51 - Live in PARADOX//Fast-Forward

"Hey dad," Lea said as she and her brother sat down opposite their father in the prison meeting room. For a prisoner, he looked relatively well.

The bags under his eyes were prominent, but his eyes were filled with life. This was her second visit in the last month, and her tenth since the seal was broken.

Before that, she hadn't visited him at all. She still felt guilty about it, but she was glad she was here now. That was all she could do, after all.

"Lea, Waco," their father said. "You both look swell."

"Sorry we're so late," Waco said.

"Road shift?" he asked.

"Road shift," they confirmed. In the months since the seal was destroyed, Paradox City had managed to get even weirder.

Nowadays roads would just change direction mid-journey. In the most extreme cases, roads would just jump from a street on one corner of the city to another.

According to Lucky Bagley, scientists had determined that it depended on how curved the road was, but much like everything in Paradox City it wasn't an exact science.

"Forgetting the road shift; I got the all clear from the docs," Waco said happily. "I can get back into the meatier roles at school now."

"Waco! My big star!" their father said. "I'm so happy for you."

"And you, Lea?" he asked, his smile widening.

"Working on new tracks," Lea said with a huff. "But I've been invited to play the Video Paradox Festival."

"She's been working really hard, with a lot of celebrities," Waco told him. Even after all this time, he was still starstruck. "Last week, Sidni Spikes came over just to jam. Just to jam."

"I'm so proud of you, Lea, so proud," Mr. Allis said. "Paradox -your song- is so popular that some of the guys in here can't get enough of it."

"Dad," Lea said, feigning embarrassment. After her little post-summer misadventure, Lea had posted a demo version of Paradox with her singing lead vocals onto YouNow, and had been contacted by a manager representing an up and coming singer named Rallie.

In the end, they had ended up collaborating on the track as LIV-YA feat. Rallie.

The lyric video with the finished track, featuring Rallie on vocals, now had fifty-million views.

"Her new song, Condition, just hit #1 on the download charts this morning," Waco mentioned. "I checked."

"Really?" Lea said excitedly. "That's great!"

"That's your second number one, honey!" he said, clapping. "I never thought you'd be a hit songwriter so early on."

"It's like magic," Waco said with a wink. Lea shot him a look.

"I'm glad, though," Mr. Allis admitted. "That you two are doing so well. It means I have something to work towards.

"They say I could get parole in three years," he said, suddenly serious. "You think I could make something of myself, out there?"

"As long as you have a dream," Lea said.

-HEIST_OVER-

"Did you get to see him?" their mother asked as they got back into the car in Paradox Prison's parking lot.

"Mom," Waco whined. "We always get to see him, why don't you just come along with us?"

"I don't think he's ready," she said solemnly. "I don't think I'm ready."

"We are getting divorced, after all," she admitted. There was a second where Lea considered glossing it over and pretending everything was okay, but she took a deep breath and smiled.

"I don't think he'll mind," Lea said. "There are still things you need to talk about."

"You're right, Lea," her mother said as she started the car. "When did you get so smart."

"That time she fell out of the sky," Waco said matter-of-factly.

"Waco!" Lea shouted.

"I still don't get that joke," their mother said curiously. "I must have missed a lot while I was gone."